


unleash the magic

by GuardianKarenTerrier



Series: adrien augreste 2020 [29]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Needs Help, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Acts Like a Cat, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Animal Instincts, Animal Traits, Animal Transformation, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Gen, Kwami & Miraculous Lore, Panic Attacks, Parent Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug), Plagg Cares (Miraculous Ladybug), Protective Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Protective Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug), kwami angst, the miraculous are not the only magic in the world, trixx does what they want, very protective, wayzz thinks he would also like to do what he wants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26454307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuardianKarenTerrier/pseuds/GuardianKarenTerrier
Summary: He doesn't even register that anything's strange at first. He spends more time transformed than not, whenever he can get away with it. He's long since gotten used to the feeling of his ears swivelling, his tail flicking.It takes him far too long to realise that he shouldn't be feeling his ears or his tail right now.He assumes at first that it's only phantom sensations. That happens sometimes, when he's stayed transformed for most of a day (or overnight, or- he stays transformed a lot. Whenever he can get away with it). There's usually a span of time after where he still moves like he's transformed until he has to consciously readjust.He knows Ladybug feels something similar, although without the ears and tail.The ears and tail that Adrien, somehow, still has.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Plagg, marinette & wayzz
Series: adrien augreste 2020 [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860751
Comments: 85
Kudos: 616





	unleash the magic

**Author's Note:**

> written for the 'spill the tea' prompt for adrienaugreste (look life ate me) but also for demigodseameg16's tumblr prompt: For the ask game, Z with Plagg, Adrien and another kwami of your choosing, and it’s when Adrien’s cat traits start talking in a physical aspect? Cat eyes, claws in human form, fangs in human form and the slight sensation that he may grow tail and ears? Perhaps master fu asking Plagg why he allows it? (z was 'your choice')

It happens when he's taking Trixx back to Fu.

Adrien's so giddy that Ladybug had asked that of him, had trusted him with that, that he doesn't even register that anything's strange at first. He spends more time transformed than not, whenever he can get away with it. He's long since gotten used to the feeling of his ears swivelling, his tail flicking.

It takes him far too long to realise that he shouldn't _be_ feeling his ears or his tail right now.

He assumes at first that it's only phantom sensations. That happens sometimes, when he's stayed transformed for most of a day (or overnight, or- he stays transformed a lot. Whenever he can get away with it). There's usually a span of time after where he still moves like he's transformed until he has to consciously readjust.

He knows Ladybug feels something similar, although without the ears and tail.

The ears and tail that Adrien, somehow, _still has.  
_

"Oh cool," Trixx says, spiralling out from his shirt and landing on his head, and it's only when the fox kwami starts nosing curiously at his ears that it finally catches up to Adrien that they're- they're definitely not supposed to still be there.

He looks down, but no, he's still in his civilian clothes.

Something flickers darkly behind him, but he shies away from thinking about that just yet.

Instead he reaches up in disbelief, because maybe Trixx is playing a prank on him. Illusions are Trixx's _thing_ , after all, and so are tricks. This could be a prank.

Adrien needs this to be a prank. He doesn't know what to do if it's not _._

But his hand immediately encounters soft fur, and he's all too familiar with the way his ear twitches away from even that light touch. He can still hear like he'd never transformed back at all. He feels his ears swivel anxiously, and the sounds from whichever direction he's tilted them at grow louder and more distinct, and he's used to that but not when he isn't transformed. That's not a sensation he expects when he isn't transformed.

Adrien can't see the top of his head to get the visual confirmation he suddenly craves, but he twists in rising alarm and sees exactly what he was afraid of.

He brings his hand down from his head, shuddering a little as he brushes fur- _fur_ , he doesn't normally have fur, so why now- and grasps his tail in both hands instead. He has to loosen his grip quickly, because his tail's much more sensitive than it ever has been as a belt.

He's also pretty sure he maybe nicked himself a little with his claws, but he really does not want to look down and confirm that he _has_ claws. He really, _really_ doesn't want to do that.

(He definitely still has his claws).

(He might be in shock).

"This hasn't happened in _centuries_ ," Trixx crows, taking off and circling Adrien once before landing back on his head. They nose at his ears again, batting at one and earning another alarmed twitch, and Adrien stumbles back against the wall of the alley, blinking rapidly and then forcing his eyes wide instead.

The alley is easier to see, with his eyes wide. He needs to see. He needs to know if anyone's coming.

He needs Trixx to not do that again. He needs to not have to acknowledge that he can feel the way his ears swivel and twitch and react. They've never been this sensitive before. They _are_ sensitive, but not like- not like this.

He needs-

"Plagg?" Adrien's voice sounds small and lost, echoing in their empty alley.

His kwami swarms to his shoulder, bunting him affectionately in a way he doesn't often do. This is the first time he's ever done it where anyone else could see. Even if it is just Trixx, Adrien doesn't think that's a good sign. "Plagg, what's happening?"

Plagg hesitates.

Plagg hasn't _said_ anything since Adrien's detransformed.

That's definitely not a good sign.

"Plagg-" Adrien's pleading. He doesn't mean to, but this isn't something he was prepared for. This isn't- he didn't know this was _possible._ "Plagg, help. What do I do? I can't- I can't go back to class like this." He can't go home, either, but he doesn't have to tell Plagg why that's not his first concern. Plagg knows.

Adrien's breath has gone shaky and shallow and he can't seem to stop swallowing.

His kwami bunts him again, against his cheek this time. " _Breathe_ , kid, first of all you gotta breathe. Passing out ain't gonna help anyone."

Adrien tries, he really does. He puts his back against the wall and breathes in hard, only to choke on the exhale as panic seizes his lungs again.

" _Breathe_ ," Plagg says again, and starts to count, slowly, and Trixx joins in this time.

Adrien does a little better this time around, but his breathing is still shaky and he loses count so often that Plagg starts over, and finally he hears Trixx say, almost conversationally, "You know this isn't working, right?"

"You know that you're not _helping,_ right?" Plagg snaps back, pressing hard against Adrien's neck and starting to purr loudly. That works better than the breathing, except that Adrien feels an answering purr rumble through him, and that shocks him back into being hyperaware of his swivelling ears and lashing tail.

Trixx says something else, but Adrien doesn't catch it. He presses his back against the wall harder, until he feels brickwork even through his clothes, and then he slides down until he hits the ground hard. He feels his shirt rip, and _that's_ not going to be fun to explain later, but that's assuming later even happens because Adrien can't let anyone _see_ him like this.

He does have to shift sideways immediately, because otherwise he's sitting on his tail and that turns painful fast and turns into a painful reminder even faster. 

Trixx has stopped talking. Plagg hasn't, but Adrien doesn't know what he's saying; he hasn't been truly listening for a while now. He's just glad to know that Plagg is _here,_ he knows he's safe if Plagg is here. Plagg is _safe._

Adrien hunches in on himself, drawing in his knees and wrapping his arms around them and blinking back tears as his tail wraps around his ankles at the same time. He feels his ears pin back and fights down a whimper.

"Kid?" Plagg darts off his shoulder to hover up near his eyes. "Kid, not that this isn't a problem, this is definitely gonna be a problem, but uh. I kinda. I'm kinda surprised _you're_ the one torn up about it bein' a problem? You're not usually-" He hesitates, then slowly spirals back down to Adrien's shoulder. "You're usually, well, happier transformed anyway."

"That doesn't just mean-" Adrien's breath hitches, catches in his throat, and he has to stop. He hadn't realised his ears had lifted to follow Plagg, but he definitely feels it when they flatten again. "I've got- I had- I finally have friends," he gets out. "As- as Adrien, I mean, I finally-"

It would be different, if it happened in a different order. In _any_ other order. If he'd had his powers longer than a day before he'd had his friends, if he'd had his friends before he had his kwami, even if he'd actually worked up the nerve to run away before now like he's thought about more seriously and more often than he wants to admit.

But instead he has this:

A dark alley, a single kwami where he thinks there should still be two, a ripped shirt he won't be able to explain, and his new inhuman traits that he'll be even _less_ able to explain.

At a sudden stray thought, Adrien checks his hand in a panic, but his ring is still there. Still silver, so it doesn't scream to the world that he's Chat Noir, but his tail twitches and he thinks a little hysterically that _that_ ship has certainly sailed.

He buries his head in his knees and tries to breathe again. This time when he feels himself start to purr he lets it happen, because at least _that's_ happened when he's human even before now, and he knows it helps. He's taken advantage of his ability to purr before, he _knows_ it helps.

Though now he can't help but think back to all those times he'd purred himself to sleep and wonder if they'd somehow been leading up to this.

Adrien doesn't lose track of time so much as he stops keeping track of time. He retreats into his own head the way he'd learned to long ago, the way he'd stopped doing because he knows it worries Plagg even if Plagg won't say so.

He thinks it scares Plagg, but that's something Plagg's even less likely to admit.

He's not sure how much time passes before a familiar, welcome voice jolts him back to awareness.

"Chat?"

A familiar, welcome, _worried_ voice.

Adrien starts to raise his head and freezes, feeling the loss of his mask acutely.

She makes a distressed noise that makes his claws spring out to defend her, making him unable to keep pretending that he doesn't still _have_ his claws. So. He can add that to the number of internal- and external- crises he's currently having.

"You, uh." She sounds intensely uncomfortable. "You can look up, actually, Trixx said- " She takes a deep breath, like they're about to face a difficult akuma. "I've got a blindfold on, Chat, but Trixx thinks so long as you change clothes it won't be a problem. I- I brought you some. Clothes, that is."

Adrien looks up before he can help it.

Ladybug's blindfold is black and spotted with red. It looks like Tikki added it to her transformation instead of Ladybug finding herself a blindfold on such short notice. That and the bag slung over her shoulder aren't the only surprises, either.

Ladybug's holding an armful of cloth out to him.

"I don't- Don't go anywhere. Please," Adrien says, hoarsely, reaching out for the clothes. She surrenders them to him immediately, before shifting to scan the alleyway's entrance. They aren't actually boxed in, neither of them would ever do that and it isn't like they couldn't both climb or jump out anyway, but he appreciates the gesture all the same.

Adrien changes as fast as he can, which considering his life experience is probably a lot faster than Ladybug expects. He takes an extra minute to blink down at the clothes she'd brought.

The first thing he notices is how soft the fabric is. His claws don't snag on it, either, so he can run his hand across it all he likes. He's already rubbing at the edge of one sleeve with his thumb and he's not sure he can stop.

The shirt and pants are both black, but a black that shimmers with blue highlights when he moves, and neon green pawprints march down the left side of the pants and curl up the same side of the shirt to twine around his sleeve. He twists enough to look at the other side of the shirt and steps back to lean heavily on the wall again.

The right side doesn't have a line of pawprints. Instead a swarm of ladybugs adorns his left shoulder before trailing away, while his right pant cuff has a single large ladybug on it, and he doesn't know exactly how to describe the way that makes him feel but whatever it is he's dizzy with it.

She's gotten his measurements exactly, too. Somehow.

He doesn't actually want to think about this part too hard, but the pants have clearly been altered to accommodate his new tail, and that would have had to be a _very_ recent alteration.

Ladybug didn't _buy_ these clothes.

Ladybug made these. She made these _for him._

"When did you-" Adrien starts, softly, and Ladybug turns back around immediately at the sound of his voice.

Blindfold still in place, she takes a step towards him and tilts her head.

Adrien's suddenly acutely aware both that his ears have tilted towards her like a flower towards the sun and that his tail's wrapped nervously around his leg, completely out of his control.

"I made a couple changes as soon as Trixx told me what happened." Ladybug moves to take another step towards him, but stops when he flinches. "Minou?"

"It's okay," he says, a little shakily, because he'd surprised _himself._ "I'm just- just a little freaked out still, I think."

He can't see them past her blindfold, but he imagines her eyes soften the way her voice does. "I think that's understandable." She steps to the side instead, leaning against the wall opposite him, and reaches into the bag she's brought again. "So, uh. Trixx recommended I bring a mirror? They seemed to think you wouldn't believe this part."

"What part?" Adrien's ears flick with nerves and that makes him wince, but he takes the compact mirror she offers him anyway.

And hesitates.

"Chat," Ladybug says. Just his name, nothing else.

Adrien takes a deep breath and flips the mirror open.

He genuinely doesn't understand what he's seeing at first.

Plagg bunts Adrien's cheek as he stares, uncomprehending, into the mirror.

Because he still has a mask.

He's definitely not transformed, and Ladybug hadn't brought him a mask, and she'd said Trixx told her that he wouldn't _need_ one, so what-

It's not until Adrien trails one hand across his face, feeling the odd sensation of the fur- _his fur-_ ruffling under it, that he finally realises what he's seeing.

"Oh." His voice is so quiet in the dark alleyway. "I guess you don't really need that blindfold anymore, my lady."

"Trixx mentioned." Ladybug makes no move to take it off.

"Ladybug?" Adrien asks, cautiously, trying and failing to keep his tail and ears both from twitching anxiously.

"Only if you're okay with it, Chat." Ladybug doesn't move.

Adrien glances in the mirror again. He feels like he should be having more of a reaction to actually seeing what's happened, but what he's seeing is _Chat._ The- _his-_ fur mirrors his mask almost perfectly, framing his eyes and making it all too obvious that they're still cat-slit, and aside from the lack of his suit and the addition of Plagg's guarding presence on his shoulder the only change he really sees is-

He blinks and tilts his head, trying to get a better look.

His human ears are gone.

That's somehow way more unsettling than the cat ears twitching atop his head.

He feels his breath start to come faster again, feels his control slipping, and very quickly wrestles it back. He takes a deeper breath and pulls all his Chat Noir bravado around himself like a cloak, desperate not to panic in the face of his partner's focused attention. "Gotta tell me I'm staying pretty now, right, my Lady?" He reaches out and trails one claw carefully through the edge of her blindfold.

She catches it as it falls, frowning without opening her eyes. "Chat Noir, I can keep it on if it helps."

It doesn't, actually. He can see how it might help her, but he's never been afraid of her learning who he is.

By contrast, it's something he dreams about a lot.

Although none of those dreams had ever gone quite like this.

"I'd really feel better if you looked at me." Adrien's a lot more quiet and serious this time. More serious than he means to be. "I'm maybe feeling a little crazy right now."

"Only right now?" Plagg snipes, but he leans against Adrien's neck as he says it and he hasn't stopped purring.

Ladybug's eyes are already opening as soon as Adrien gets as far as _looked at me._ "You're not crazy, kitty. At least not any crazier than we _both_ were already," she amends, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Normally that'd be a whole lot more distracting, but she's also scanning him with the kind of focus and intent she usually reserves for her Lucky Charms. He can't help but be reassured at the sight, but while he's used to being part of her plans he's considerably less used to her looking at _him_ like a puzzle to be solved.

His ears twitch flat and her gaze softens. This time, when she takes a step forward, Chat doesn't flinch.

"Can I hug you?" Ladybug reaches out halfway, tentatively.

Adrien steps into her arms and hugs her back, tightly. His voice comes out shaky. "LB? Please tell me you have a plan."

She pulls back to look up at him. "I have a plan."

He makes a face down at her and tries hard to ignore the sensation of his tail lashing nervously against both their legs. "You're like one of the only people I trust _not_ to lie to me, come on."

"I have part of a plan," Ladybug acknowledges, laughing a little, and hugs him tighter. "Maybe half."

Adrien almost says something terribly cheesy at that _,_ but bites his tongue in time.

"We're going to have to go see Master Fu."

* * *

Chat Noir is a lot quieter than usual as he follows after her.

Marinette would never even try to get to Master Fu without detransforming under normal circumstances, but these aren't normal circumstances. She's still finding herself extremely nervous about being followed, turning to check behind them far too often and changing their course every few minutes.

"Hey, Ladybug?" Chat Noir comes up beside her, brushing his hand against hers. She glances over just in time to see his relieved smile as she takes his hand to thread their fingers together. The brush of his claws sends the same bright bolt of reassurance through her as always, even though this is a situation where it really shouldn't. "Thanks."

Her fingers tighten on his without her willing it. "You don't need to thank me, Chat. Not for this."

Plagg's purr stutters for a second and Marinette looks at him sharply. Plagg won't look back, and the purr he's barely let up since Chat had shown his first signs of panic doesn't stutter again.

Plagg's doing everything he can to keep Chat from panicking. Marinette had never expected Chat to panic at all.

She does her best to get them to Master Fu's current apartment faster.

She's glad that she asked Trixx to go ahead when she sees Master Fu leaning out his doorway, anxiously scanning the night.

His eyes widen when he sees her and Chat Noir. He beckons them inside quickly, locking the door behind them in one practised motion.

"What happened?" He moves to check the windows as well, waving the two of them further inside. "Sit, please, we clearly have much to discuss."

Marinette knows right away when Plagg's purrs have stopped, because Chat goes tense beside her. His hand shakes against hers before he stills again.

A stray thought strikes her- if she'd ever had any reason to sit and think through how Chat would feel about staying transformed, or whatever is currently happening, the last thing she would have settled on is his being _frightened._ If anything she'd have expected to have to fight to get him to take it seriously. She'd have worried that he thought it was too much fun to worry about.

Now she thinks she would have preferred that.

Because instead he's taking this so seriously that she can feel him trembling. He's been clearly trying not to show his fear, but he hardly spoke a word on the way here, and his ears are flat, his tail limp. She knows him more than well enough to know how scared he is.

But she still can't imagine that he's scared of his transformation. He _loves_ being Chat Noir. This is a situation that promises an overwhelming host of problems, but that's never stopped either of them, and Chat loves his transformation and his kwami both. Being transformed and having Plagg with him at the same time wouldn't scare him. Marinette's trying her best to hide how scared _she_ is of the possibility he can't change back, but that wouldn't scare _Chat,_ or at least not by itself.

He's scared of something else _.  
_

He'd flinched from her touch earlier. He's never once flinched from her before.

He's scared of some _one_ else.

"This is not entirely unprecedented," Master Fu says, joining them at the table with steaming cups of tea she's not sure he's actually had time to make. Wayzz is perched on the rim of one of them, looking pained. "Though I'm not sure that it has ever been one of Plagg's before."

Plagg spirals down to the low table, though he sticks noticeably close to Chat. "No, I've had one. Maybe two? All the good ones are gone before I can blink, they were _good_ ones." He blinks down at the table, as if in demonstration- or remembrance- and Marinette can't help but squeeze Chat's hand at the irrational surge of fear that sweeps through her with Plagg's words.

Wayzz lifts his head and corrects tiredly, "You've had one. And it went poorly."

"Well you've had _none,_ " Plagg snarls, darting back to Chat and dropping down onto his head, nestling himself between restless ears. Those ears flick and settle and Marinette's eyes are drawn to them. It's strange to see the familiar ears without the familiar rivets, and she's tempted to reach out to stroke the soft fur on them, but she's not going to do anything to make Chat any more skittish than he already is.

Plagg is outright glaring at Wayzz from his place between Chat's ears. "You got that, Wayzz, you've had _none_ so you can f-"

"Children," Marinette says mildly, without thinking, and Chat snorts with sudden laughter. Though it was unplanned, she's relieved by that outcome and goes on, heartened. "Care to share with the rest of the class?"

She thinks she's glad that Chat Noir can't see the scathing looks Plagg is directing at Wayzz right now. They're making something strange shiver under Marinette's skin, and she's spent incalculably less time with Plagg than Chat has.

Every interaction she's had with Plagg and Wayzz together has seemed to indicate that they're old friends.

Right now they could look like nothing less.

Plagg's more obvious, his fur bristling and his ears pinned back in an angrier echo of his frightened chosen, but Wayzz is glaring too. She hadn't known that Wayzz _could_ glare.

Marinette glances up at Master Fu to see him also giving the kwami a bewildered look. Her stomach sinks; if he's surprised too, then this may not be the same thing Master Fu's seen before after all. At the very least, the kwami aren't reacting the way he'd expected even if it is.

"Sometimes," Master Fu begins cautiously, not taking his eye from the kwami bristling at each other. "Sometimes the kwami find chosen that are-let's call it _particularly_ well suited to their magic. Chosen with compatible magic, if you will. It can take many forms, though I've personally only ever heard of a Fox transforming outright before, and that was a very specific set of circumstances." He looks distant for a long moment. "As well as a rather large helping of _incompatible_ magic."

It's some reassurance to Marinette that Chat Noir looks just as lost as her.

She takes the lead; he looks too stunned and strangely hurt still. "Please back up a bit, Master. How can we have compatible magic? Humans don't _have_ magic."

Master Fu looks taken aback, exchanging a look with Wayzz that Marinette can't hope to read, and it's Wayzz that answers. "Of course you do. It's passive in most of you, but everyone has magic. Everything alive has magic, that's _how_ it's alive. "

Chat Noir still hasn't let go of her hand. His grip tightens again now.

Marinette's surprised her voice is steady. "And this is a result of that magic?"

"Normally the-" Master Fu hesitates, looking around like he expects eavesdroppers to have appeared in the five minutes since he'd locked the door and checked the windows. He lowers his voice. "Normally, the elder monks who selected the kwami's chosen were careful to avoid anyone too compatible."

"That doesn't make any sense," is the first thing Marinette finds herself saying, her mouth working faster than her mind. "Why wouldn't you _want_ compatible chosen? Doesn't that work better? How could we fight like we do if we weren't all- compatible?" The word is beginning to leave a bad taste in her mouth, a sour feeling in her gut. She'd been hoping that Master Fu would have some easy way to reverse this and it's becoming rapidly clear that he does not.

And she doesn't like the idea of these ancient monks taking her from Tikki because they fit together _too well._

She doesn't like the idea of anyone taking her or Tikki or Chat or Plagg from each other, in _any_ combination.

She really doesn't like that the idea is beginning to feel _extremely relevant_ to their current situation.

"They didn't _want_ us to fight like we do. They never did." Plagg's voice is soft, but it vibrates with suppressed anger. There might be hurt in there as well, but it's buried beneath the rage.

Chat Noir, Marinette notes, does not flinch from Plagg.

She reassesses before her next question. "Why were the monks selecting the _kwami's_ chosen, anyway? I thought the kwami chose their chosen. It's- it's in the _name._ "

Plagg scowls. Chat's ear flicks back and nearly hits him. "'Cause they were _full of themselves,_ the rest's not important, kids."

"Plagg is right," Wayzz admits, clearly reluctant. He doesn't specify what Plagg is right about. "We have to focus on the present problem."

Chat's ears flick again and then press all the way to his head. He's staring at the table instead of at any of the rest of them, and his tail is curling tightly around his ankles, and Marinette grips his hand harder. She threads her fingers through his, deliberately ignoring his claws. Chat won't hurt her. Chat would never hurt her, not while he's himself.

Chat glances over at her. Marinette smiles grimly back at him, because if Wayzz is _actually_ hinting at wanting to separate Plagg and Chat then-

Marinette would fight them over Tikki, and Tikki would fight them too.

And she and Tikki aren't _half_ as close as Chat and Plagg.

Marinette would almost be jealous of their bond, except that she's starting to think she knows what caused it to run so deep.

Because she's starting to suspect just what it is Chat Noir's actually scared of. He's given her a lot of hints before, almost all of them accidental, and she's not liking the picture that they're painting.

(He keeps flinching at anger and authority figures and especially at angry authority figures).

"Plagg." Wayzz's voice is dripping with disapproval.

Plagg snarls at him. Marinette can't tell thanks to Chat's fluffy hair- and she has another sudden stray thought about whether or not it's softer when he's Chat, whether it's softer _now-_ but she thinks from Chat's wince that Plagg might be digging his claws in.

Plagg's snarl does not have words.

Plagg's snarl also does not _need_ words.

"Is it reversible?" Marinette has to force the question out, because Chat Noir still isn't speaking.

Has he said _anything_ since they'd gotten here?

Chat Noir still isn't saying anything, and-

And Master Fu's not answering her.

* * *

Chat feels himself go tense when Master Fu doesn't answer Ladybug. He forces himself to keep the hand in Ladybug's as relaxed as he can manage. He doesn't want her to let go, but he doesn't want to risk scratching her, either.

(He hasn't even tried to pick up the tea Master Fu offered them both. His hands are shaking too much to risk it, especially with his claws).

"Master?" Ladybug says into the silence, after the silence has stretched too long.

Master Fu still doesn't answer her, but Trixx does.

"Reynard could reverse it. When he wanted." Trixx sounds far more subdued than he's ever heard them. Chat's not willing (or _able_ ) to look up from the table, but he feels Ladybug shift to run her thumb along the back of his hand as Trixx speaks. "Diego couldn't. But I don't think he wanted to." There's a hesitation in Trixx for the first time that Adrien's ever seen, before their voice drops lower and they add, "And he didn't- stop. He was a fox at the- at the end."

Adrien doesn't like to think about all the chosen their kwami must have lost in the past.

It sounds like this is one Trixx has never _stopped_ thinking about.

(He wonders if either of them are people Trixx got to choose for themself. He hates knowing now that their kwami haven't been getting that choice, when it always should have been theirs).

Ladybug is paying more attention to the relevant details than Chat himself is. "So Chat has to want to reverse it. Is that it?"

Adrien opens his mouth to say _but I've already wanted that,_ and then shuts it again when Master Fu begins to speak.

Ladybug squeezes his hand- starting fast and going slower and she's partway through before he realises it's Morse for _I'm here._ He catches on late enough that he wouldn't recognise the message if they hadn't used it so often.

He's never learned why Ladybug knows Morse code at all. She's never asked why _he_ does. Of course they would both know this; of course they're this suited for each other, their kwami chose them because they fit together like a brilliant puzzle with thousands of pieces-

-except that their kwami _hadn't_ chosen them _,_ and Adrien is going to take a long time to process that.

Had Plagg not-

What if Plagg had never actually wanted-

What if Plagg had never truly wanted him after all?

"Chat?" Ladybug asks, under her breath, while Master Fu is speaking, and it makes Adrien go tense all over again.

He hasn't heard a word that Master Fu has said, but he still knows better than to speak over him.

Ladybug, apparently, does not. She turns to Master Fu and says, "Excuse me, I think I need to talk to my partner alone before we continue." She doesn't so much as wait for a response. Chat's not sure she cares about a response.

When she pulls him after her and into the next room, Chat does not resist.

Ladybug has to stretch to put her hands on his shoulders. This doesn't stop her.

"Chat Noir, you're scaring me." She squeezes, her eyes flicking up to Plagg and then back down to meet his. "Say something. Please. Or- or don't, you don't have to if you don't want to, but just- give me _something_ to work with here, kitty."

Her hands are a constant pressure on his shoulders now, there and real and anchoring him in a way he hadn't known he needed. They draw him back down to earth even knowing that they haven't got any answers yet.

Adrien opens his mouth and thinks of Master Fu waiting impatiently in the next room and cringes away instead of speaking. Plagg, still curled on his head, purrs louder and presses himself flat, plastering himself between Adrien's ears like he's not at all willing to let go.

Like he _has_ always wanted Adrien. Like he won't let anyone take Adrien from him now.

Like whether it was Plagg's choice or not, Adrien is _his_ now.

And it _helps,_ but Adrien still can't answer Ladybug. He can barely even meet her eyes, as hard as he tries to.

Ladybug exhales, hard, but her hands had slipped away from him when he flinched and she doesn't step after him. He's surprised to feel relieved at that; he's never once minded Ladybug in his space before, but right now his nerves feel raw and sparking and he has to fight the urge to find a defensible corner and just _stay there_.

"You _don't_ want to reverse it," Ladybug says softly, tilting her head and studying him closely. "Chat... you don't, do you?"

Chat opens his mouth again, stunned indignant and entirely intending to argue that _of course he does,_ that's why he called her in the first place-

He didn't call her.

Plagg sent Trixx to get her, or Trixx went on their own. _He_ hadn't called her at all.

 _Would_ he have called her?

He's not sure. He thinks he would have, eventually. 

But that _eventually_ staggers him.

"Chat Noir?" Ladybug reaches out towards him, but stops short, holding herself steady so that he can reach out and take her hand if he wants to. Holding herself so that he doesn't _have_ to take her hand if he doesn't. 

He can't imagine ever not reaching back for her. 

He's still scared and skittish, he still feels that strange urge to hide, but he can't ignore her outstretched hand any more than he can stop his heart. 

Ladybug draws him closer, slowly, her thumb stroking lightly over the back of his hand and deftly avoiding his claws. "Kitty, can I give you a hug?" She swallows, hard, and his eyes flick up to meet hers for the first time in... a while now. 

Her eyes are full of nothing but concern and- and affection, and he sways into her arms without really meaning to. 

Ladybug's arms slide around his waist, holding tight. One arm slides slowly up his back, pausing frequently like she wants to make sure he's still okay, before she buries a hand in his hair and scratches very lightly just beside one ear, the way she does sometimes when they're stressed out on patrol. It never fails to make him purr, and _that_ never fails to make them both feel better. 

Plagg, unusually quiet, shifts aside for Ladybug's hand. 

When Ladybug curls her fingers through his hair and her nails catch against his scalp and the edge of his twitching ear, Chat shudders and leans hard into it as everything else seems to melt away.

His ear flicks as he sags, his knees trying to give out as the purr he tries and fails to suppress rumbles through him. Ladybug catches him easily and lowers them both to the floor, her grip never faltering, and he ends up slumped into her lap. 

Ladybug stops scratching, but she doesn't move her hand from his ear or her arm from where it's slid up to wrap around his shoulders rather than his waist. Her thumb brushes the nape of his neck when he goes to tilt his head up and it sends him right back down, purring and trying to press closer. Trying to get her to start petting him again. 

"Kitty?" Ladybug ducks her head, trying to look him in the eyes. "Chat? Hey-" 

He blinks up at her, slowly, and tries again to shift his ear into her hand.

This time, Ladybug _does_ take her hand away, to the faint sound of Plagg snickering. Chat realises distantly that Plagg's still nestled in his hair, between his ears, and he _shouldn't_ sound faint. 

Ladybug shakes him. 

Gently, but it's enough to snap him most of the way out of it. 

He's suddenly really, _acutely_ aware that they're on the floor of Master Fu's backroom and he's sprawled limply into his partner's loose hold, purring and wordlessly begging for contact. 

Adrien flushes so hard he's dizzy with it and tries to stand, or at least to scramble back a bit, and he gets exactly nowhere. 

Because even though she's not petting him now, Ladybug's hands are still on him, resting on his shoulders and drawing him back in, and he has to bite back a whimper when he realises he _can't_ pull away from her. He can't do it. He doesn't think he wants to, except that now she's seen him- seen him- 

Seen him-

What _is_ going on? 

Adrien starts to say something, has to bring his arm up when he starts coughing, and finds to his alarm that he can't quite stop. Ladybug moves him just as gently (and easily) as before, but this time she turns them both in towards the wall and helps him shift onto his side. His head is in her lap still, and she's got one hand on his upper back sliding up towards his neck and the other-

Ladybug doesn't scratch behind his ear this time, she only digs her fingers in the lightest bit, and it _still_ draws all the fight and tension out of him. He goes limp again, trying to push his head more firmly into her hand with a quiet little _mew_ that he'll be embarrassed about later.

"Plagg?" Ladybug asks, quietly. Very quietly, like she doesn't want anyone to overhear. "Is this... " She trails off, and Chat hears a whimper as he tries harder to get her to keep petting him. He thinks the whimper might be him. "You made it pretty clear the whole situation isn't normal, but-" She withdraws a hand to gesture down at Chat and he whines at the loss. "This seems..." 

Plagg exhales, making Chat's ears twitch. "Yeah, this part's not. None of it is." There's a very uncomfortable pause. "The kid's always been a little more _cat_ than he should, though. Like. From the start. From maybe even _before_ me. This is not- I've seen Trixx's, none of theirs- this is _not_ what usually happens, no." 

Ladybug's hand is gone again and Chat whines again, twisting his head back and forth to try and get her to resume. 

" _Chat,"_ Ladybug says, and shakes him again. This time she draws him back upright, or as upright as he'll go when he's still pretty insistent about trying to get her to scratch that spot behind his ears. "Chat Noir, we need you to focus. Kitty? Come on, I need you to stay with me, here." 

He's trying. He's trying to stay with the conversation, to pay attention to her words because this is important. This is about him. This is about what they're going to do with him, how they're going to hide him, where they're going to have to find to keep him hidden away from everyone else except for when she has to take him out to do their jobs-

He whimpers again, even as some quiet little part of him whispers _you know she wouldn't do that. Ladybug would_ never _do that to you._

"Plagg?" Ladybug sounds scared. She shouldn't sound scared. He can protect her from whatever's scaring her. He can- he can protect. Be useful. Be- be kept, for himself, not have to worry about being- being- hidden away, or replaced, or _both_ or-

She wouldn't do that to him. He doesn't think she'd do that to him. 

( _Father_ did that to him (and so had Mother), what kind of (parents) father-

No. He's not going down that line of thought again. He _can't_ think about that again).

"Kid!" 

Plagg's claws _do_ dig into his scalp, now, with enough strength to force a pained yelp from Chat. Ladybug peels away from him, her eyes troubled, and then watches him from the only-slightly-safer distance of about two feet away.

Adrien comes back to himself with terrifying slowness. 

_"Kid,"_ Plagg says again, and this time Adrien can hear the strain in his voice. "Dunno where you went for a minute there, but _don't._ Don't do that. That's- that's not good, I don't think, I dunno if you _can_ keep coming _back_ from-" Plagg stumbles to a halt, and Adrien's ears flatten at hearing his usually-sure-of-himself kwami trip over his words. Plagg _never_ sounds like that. 

Trixx had said one of theirs _couldn't_ reverse it. Had said, _He was a fox, at the end.  
_

Just how literally had they meant that? 

Ladybug's arms are crossed tightly against her chest now, like she's trying to keep herself from reaching after him again. Her eyes are bright with worry. "You went away on us, Chat." 

Adrien starts to reply, but words are still hard, so he settles for shaking his head. He can't help the way his ears flatten or his back goes tense, his tail curling tight around his ankle, and Ladybug's arms uncross in a hurry as she takes a tentative step back towards him. 

"Chat?" She keeps gentling her voice, like he's a spooked stray, and he- can't really argue that point, can he. 

Not even the _stray_ bit, now. He can't go _home_ like this. 

(And if that's more of a relief than anything, he doesn't have to admit to it). 

"Hey." Ladybug crouches down, crossing her arms loosely over her knees. "Hey, we'll figure it out, okay? We're not gonna make you go home if you seriously don't want to." She tilts her head, something odd flashing through her eyes. "You _really_ don't want to. Chat Noir? Did something happen?" 

His immediate inclination is to say no and shrug it off like always, Ladybug doesn't need or want to hear about his civilian problems and he shouldn't let them interfere with their hero work anyway, but Plagg's claws prickle through his (fur) hair when his kwami shifts at the question and Adrien flinches and one ear flicks and he can hear Master Fu humming an unfamiliar song in the next room. 

Adrien scrabbles partway upright at last and then curls into himself, unwilling to move from his sheltered corner even now, and starts to answer. "He- Father-" He winces at the volume of his voice and tries to speak louder, or at least loud enough for her to actually hear him. "He-" 

\- didn't actually do anything. Nothing _did_ happen. 

Father didn't _do_ anything, today's no different than a hundred previous days except that it had just hit Adrien differently, somehow. 

That he'd seen his father at all is more unusual than anything Father had said. Idle comments about how if Adrien doesn't keep up with his grades and his modelling work and his health and his fencing and his image and his reputation then Father will have to pull him out of school for proving it's too much of a distraction are normal, they make up more than three quarters of the conversations Father _has_ with him. 

Plagg says it's not a conversation if only one person gets to do all the talking, but Plagg hasn't lived with Father for fifteen years. That's just what Father's _like,_ he doesn't really do conversations, he never has expected an answer and he doesn't like it when he gets one. 

_That_ explanation had made Plagg more genuinely angry than Adrien had seen him before, though, so Adrien had just shut up about it even though Plagg usually doesn't mind if he answers. Adrien thinks Plagg might even actually like it when he answers. 

Ladybug exhales, hard, and shifts until she's kneeling, leaning back and away from him even though she's still holding herself like she wants to reach for him again. Adrien's not sure if he wants her to or not. "Okay. Chat, you don't have to tell me, okay? You don't ever have to tell me anything you don't want to, kitty-" She winces. "-that's not really something I can promise, is it. Unless it's super important or it's really hurting you or both, you don't have to, okay?" She hesitates. 

"This _is_ both," Plagg points out, claws still tangled where he's still refusing to move from between Adrien's ears. There's a scowl in his voice that makes Adrien flinch and Plagg immediately lets go, but he still doesn't move. "He's _hurt_ and that _makes_ it important!" 

"I noticed," Ladybug nearly snaps, and then takes another deep breath when Adrien doesn't hide this flinch in time, either. "I noticed, Plagg. Kitty, _can_ you tell me?" 

He couldn't get the words out when he tried. Now even trying to work out what he _wants_ to tell her is getting snarled up long before he knows what to say. 

Miserably, Adrien shakes his head. 

"Okay," Ladybug says, and ignores Master Fu's voice rising in the next room as the man loudly comments on how long he's been waiting. Ladybug says nothing about the nervous way Adrien's eyes fixate on the door, either. "But I'm betting Plagg _can_ tell me. Would you be all right with that, Chat?" 

The relief that he can give this particular responsibility over to Plagg is so overwhelming that Adrien's nodding immediately. 

Plagg finally moves, but he only tumbles off Adrien's head to hover in front of him, between him and Ladybug (between him and the door). 

"Wait a sec, Plagg." Ladybug gets up- slowly- and goes to the door herself. 

And locks it.

And after an indiscernible look back at Adrien, carefully shoves a bookcase up against it.

The room has windows, so the trapped feeling doesn't come for him like it might otherwise, and the room _also_ has both Plagg and Ladybug _in_ it so he's not too sure it would anyway, but it would be impossible for Master Fu to barge in without plenty of warning. _Wayzz_ wouldn't have any problems, but Adrien's a lot more willing to trust kwami than he is-

"Kid's gonna try to downplay this," Plagg warns Ladybug immediately, with the kind of dark look back at Adrien that Adrien _doesn't_ flinch at. Plagg's not- he trusts Plagg. "I think it's always been like this, anything I try to point out he insists is _normal_ and I super don't think it is, kid."

Adrien straightens in protest, scowling at Plagg. His ears flick upright, training on his partner and his kwami. 

"You said I could explain, I'm gonna explain." Plagg's own ears flick, in irritation instead of curiosity, and he turns back to Ladybug. "It _is_ his dad, his dad overworks him and then keeps demandin' more, and anytime Chat even _looks like_ he _might_ not meet his dad's standards- _because they're not_ possible, _kid-_ the asshole threatens to take away _all his friends,_ an' he's gonna do it by locking my kid up and not letting him back _out!"_

Ladybug recoils, though whether it's from Plagg's words or the whimper Adrien doesn't manage to suppress is hard to tell. 

Plagg's not _done_ though, Plagg has permission now to say things he's been trying to say to Adrien for ages, and now he turns back towards Adrien and keeps going. "He neglects you on top of that, how do you not see this happening, kid! You do _everything_ he wants and then he can't even be bothered to _show up,_ you've seen that _asshole_ once all week and LOOK AT THE RESULT!" 

Plagg or not, safe or not, Adrien can't help the way he's pressed even further into his corner, as far as he can go, or the way his eyes are shut against the building tears and his ears have not just gone flat again but have started trembling. _All_ of him is trembling. 

Plagg would never hurt him, but Plagg's just dragged up so many of the things that _have.  
_

He's slowly aware of hands on his arms, holding him tight, thumbs stroking soothingly over his skin on either side. Ladybug leans in and gently moves him and lets him duck his head into her shoulder. "Is that right, Chat?" 

Adrien is stiff with reluctance and nerves and Plagg made it sound so much worse than it is, but slowly, he nods. 

Ladybug does hug him tightly then, although she lets go and sits back quickly. "Kitty, that's _awful._ He shouldn't do that to you. _No one_ should do that to you, alright? He can't take your friends away _or_ lock you up, _t_ here is nothing that could ever justify that and definitely not that you can't do the _impossible._ Chat, if you're this scared of going back, then I'm not asking you to go back." 

"I'm not-" His voice wavers. Adrien has to force words out, like his own voice doesn't want him to _use_ it.

Maybe that's true. No one else ever does. Even Ladybug's asked him to be quiet before.

"Can I hug you?" Ladybug asks, and Adrien's nodded before she's done asking. 

"I'm not scared," he mumbles into her shoulder. 

"Of course not," she assures him, squeezing tighter and briefly stroking one hand down his spine. Adrien melts into her with a purr and she hastily stops petting. "O-kay, let's not do _that_ again until we at least know what it is." 

"A bad sign, is what I think it is," Plagg mutters. He'd hopped onto Ladybug's other shoulder himself when she'd hugged Adrien and now he seems content to stay there. "Trixx made it sound like that was some kinda defence mechanism type thing." 

"Trixx didn't actually say anything like that at all," Ladybug counters. "We don't _know_ if they meant just physically. That might not be the problem we thought it would." One hand gently brushes the edge of Adrien's ear, but only for a moment. "This makes you happy. We want you to be happy, Chat Noir. We can figure something out for it, we're _good_ at that. I don't think losing yourself would make anyone happy." 

"Would make his dad friggin' _thrilled,"_ Plagg mutters sourly in response. "He doesn't want the kid to be his son, he wants him to be a _doll._ A robot. A freaking Sentimonster." Plagg growls, a much deeper sound than it seems like his tiny body should be capable of. "He wants something he can _control."_

If Adrien flinches at that, then Ladybug does too. 

There have been too many different akuma that had managed to take control of Chat Noir. Ladybug knows exactly how much he _hates_ it. 

Now she knows why, and it's only now that she does know that Adrien realises he hadn't _wanted_ her to. It's a normal thing to dislike, she would never have questioned it, but now she _knows_ and it's- that's _different,_ somehow. He's not sure how but it is. 

"... _don't_ go home." Ladybug shakes him a little, trying to get him to look at her, and Adrien does. Her blue eyes are so worried as she looks back at him and it makes a painful warmth rise in him, bringing a soft purr with it. "Hey, careful, stay with me here." She pauses, and that worry doesn't fade but it also turns thoughtful. "... stay with me." 

Plagg makes an odd noise, somewhere between amused and relieved. "Yeah? How's that gonna work?" 

"He's got his mask this way," Ladybug reminds him gently. "He might have to answer to his father as a civilian, but _Chat Noir_ doesn't have to answer to anyone." 

"You," Adrien murmurs, struggling back towards full lucidity again. He's not helped by the fact that he's not that sure he _wants_ it.

"You don't answer to me, kitty." Ladybug leans back a little without releasing him, casting a wary look at the door even though Master Fu hasn't so much as attempted it. 

"Bad at it." Adrien's mumbling, but neither Plagg nor Ladybug seem to care about that. 

"No, we're _partners._ You don't answer to me because I'm not in _charge_ of you, Chat." Ladybug sounds so distressed that Adrien jolts all the way back to himself in alarm. 

And then confusion. "You _are."  
_

"I'm not.I never was, I never thought that- that _you_ would think-" Ladybug's distress is written across her face in a way that makes Adrien have to break his gaze. "Chat Noir, we're a _team._ I would have quit the first day if it wasn't for you!" 

"Hey, Ladybug?" Plagg cuts in, voice suddenly urgent. "Maybe continue this conversation _somewhere else."_

Adrien looks up again. 

Wayzz's expression, before he ducks back through the wall, is impossible to read. 

"Can you stand?" Ladybug asks, and when Adrien shrugs and tries she helps him to his feet. Adrien sways a little and winces at the dark spots that briefly cloud the edges of his vision, but he finds his balance quickly enough. This at least is something he's had plenty of practise at. 

"Kid. You forgot to eat before patrol again." Plagg's voice is very, very strained, like he'd very much like to say more, like he'd very much like to go right back to ranting to Ladybug and- and making things sound worse than they really are, he loves Plagg but Plagg always somehow makes things sound so much _worse_ when he says them. 

And this is something that has always frustrated Plagg. 

Adrien doesn't _mean_ to forget, and Plagg knows that and actually seems to understand it, but then no one ever shows up for dinner and Adrien's appetite deserts him all at once and he ends up leaving and transforming and slipping off to patrol and then he never does end up eating later like he means to. Sometimes they eat _on_ patrol and that helps, but mostly Adrien's gotten so used to his new habit of accidentally skipping meals that he forgets the way that he sometimes has to stop and lean on a wall until the dizziness passes isn't normal.

And breakfast is even worse. He's _never_ hungry in the morning anymore, he always wakes up with the kind of knot in his stomach that males him too nauseous to eat and it never fully recedes until he's sliding into his desk at school, or if it's a _really_ bad morning, until he's fighting at Ladybug's side. 

He still eats lunch (if less of it than he used to, and if Nathalie's noticed she's said nothing, although the Gorilla's started keeping energy bars in the limo and he's definitely not supposed to be doing that), and Nino and sometimes Alya or even Marinette and on very rare occasion Chloé will slip him snacks throughout the day. Rose has insisted on sharing her and Juleka's lunch with Adrien and Kim more than once and Alix reliably hands out candy like it's a holiday once or twice a week. He's not- it's not that bad, his friends have made sure it's not that bad. 

His friends have felt the need to make sure it's not that bad. 

_Chloé_ shoves food into his hands. 

... it's probably that bad. 

But if _that's_ true- then what else might be? 

Ladybug doesn't really react to Plagg's comment, though, beyond a worried wrinkle to her mask. He thinks maybe she's already as worried as she can get. "Chat... I mean it, unless you tell me no, I'm taking you home." Her eyes dart to the barricaded door and back to him. "And we're going to have to go out the window. Can you manage, minou?" 

He's gotten in and out of much higher windows in much worse states, but Adrien does actually know better than to tell her that. "Yeah." 

He doesn't think to ask about _why_ they're going out the window until they're several rooftops away, with Plagg and Ladybug both insisting he stop and take a breather. 

"This isn't even as far as we go to _get_ to patrol," Adrien mumbles, leaning hard against a chimney wall and letting it take most of his weight.

"You're transformed on patrol, Chat." 

"I can keep going. We're not going very fast, I can go faster." He reaches for his baton and nearly unbalances himself, swiping at empty air, before Ladybug's hands on his shoulders guide him gently back up against the wall again. 

"What are you doing?" Ladybug's voice is just as gentle as her hands. "You don't have your staff, Chat, you're not transformed. We'll get you one, though, okay? For when you're not?" 

That's definitely a question and he definitely doesn't know if it's the kind he's supposed to answer.

"Okay," Ladybug murmurs, softly, even as Adrien's concentration lapses enough that he leans more into her hands than he does against the wall. "I don't think we have time for this. Chat, I'm going to have to pick you up, all right?" She waits, and when Adrien doesn't answer- because that _shouldn't_ need an answer, and it's usually safer not to give one, anyway- she says, "Plagg?" 

Plagg speaks up from somewhere between the two of them and it's only when Adrien realises he's not entirely sure _where_ that he also realises just how blurry his vision's gone. "Yeah, you're gonna have to, it's not usually this bad." 

_"Not usually-_ Plagg-" 

"You're gonna have to ask Tikki, I'm not getting into it." Plagg lands on Adrien's shoulder and purrs softly, both the sound and touch reassuring Adrien more than anything else ever has. "Can we just get the kid _home_ first?" 

Adrien goes tense as a strung bow immediately, shaking with the effort it takes to _not react_ to that, and he's putting so much energy into keeping his ears strained upright that he's caught completely off guard by his tail bushing out because it's never _done that_ before, he's had practise controlling his ears and tail but he's never had to worry about fur giving him away before. 

" _My_ home, Chat, I meant it when I said I wouldn't ask you to go back." Ladybug slides her hands down from his shoulders to his upper arms, gripping tightly. "Can you hang on if you climb on my back, or do you want me to carry you?" 

Adrien stares, and blinks, and stares, because she _had_ said that but he hadn't thought-

He's got to be dreaming. 

He's got to be dreaming, so in a numb haze he agrees to being carried, and his eyes slip shut at how closely she holds him and he can hear her heartbeat so clearly like this and that makes him start purring and that makes _her_ start laughing. Her laugh makes him happy enough in turn that his purr kicks louder and he doesn't try to open his eyes again, just lets himself leans trustingly into his partner. He figures this is probably where the dream ends, but it's a good place for it to end. 

And then it doesn't. 

"Sorry to rush you inside but I don't want to risk anyone getting curious and trying to follow us." Ladybug's reaching out to fiddle with a door or a window latch or something, and Adrien feels his purr stutter because he is not waking up and she is taking them inside and she had said _my home, Chat._

"You know Trixx followed us, right?" Plagg sounds darkly amused even as his paws press hard against Adrien's collarbone, a reminder that his kwami is still with him. 

"Trixx is allowed." The something-dark in Ladybug's voice is _not_ coloured with amusement. "I think Trixx is staying, too." 

From somewhere back by the window- door?- they've just come through, there's a tiny cheer. 

"... huh." Plagg goes still in that way that means he's surprised and doesn't want to show it. "You'd have brought Wayzz, too. Wouldn't you, kid." 

It's not a question, but Ladybug answers anyway, even as she starts to set Chat Noir down on- is this her _bed?_

Is this happening? Adrien can't be sure anymore whether this is happening. 

"If Wayzz wants to come join us, he knows he's welcome here. We've... " She pauses, obviously weighing up what she wants to say. "... Fu's sent him here before. Wayzz knows he's welcome." 

Adrien stays very still, although he has to work to make himself let go of Ladybug as she lets go of him. He wants to know what's happened between his partner and Wayzz. He wants to know what's happened that Master Fu has _sent_ his partner Wayzz before, when Master Fu has never once seemed terribly concerned about what Plagg and Adrien are doing. 

He wants to know where they are and why she brought them there, because he still isn't sure he believes it. 

"Chat Noir?" Her hand brushes across his forehead, very gently, and he feels her settle beside him. "You can look, you know. I brought you so you can _stay,_ kitty, so you can definitely look." 

Plagg presses against him and purrs as Adrien slowly opens his eyes, to see Ladybug and Trixx and a familiar bedroom. 

He swallows, hard, and lets his gaze inch up to meet his partner's. "M-Marinette?" 

She smiles at him. Trixx ducks down to huddle on her shoulder, and Ladybug lets them in a way that makes Adrien suddenly sure that Trixx _is_ staying, and then Ladybug says, "Spots off." 

**Author's Note:**

> listen i am projecting on the skipping meals thing i tend to forget to eat until eventually cyrus tells me to go find some food already (tho we are definitely using different criteria for acceptable food) and i am not thrilled that mom and little brother keep trying to praise me for the forgetting-to-eat thing _im not doing it on purpose, guys_
> 
> originally this wasnt supposed to involve adrien getting quite so freaked out about it but it REALLY wanted to go that route, so
> 
> titles from unleash the magic from, uh, mlp equestria girls friendship games, which i wrote a surprising amount of this to. i mean i also wrote it to various irish drinking songs so take that as you will


End file.
